Gray Light
by Darkchilde
Summary: Cannonball tires to help Boomer after the revelations in "Black Roses"


The mentioned characters are not mine. They belong to Marvel. Please don't sue me.   
  
  
Gray Light  
  
Sam reached up a hand to tap on the closed door softly. There was no response from inside, so he knocked louder.   
  
"Tabitha?" He asked, leaning against the door.   
  
Still there was no response from inside, and Sam grasped the gold doorknob slightly. He swallowed hard, and twisted the knob. He pushed it open softly, and poked his head in the door.   
  
He didn't think that she was in the room at first. The room was dark, the blinds pulled down and all the lights were off. But once his eyes adjusted to the room, he was able to see a small, huddled shape in the corner.   
  
Sam swallowed hard, and pushed the door all the way open. He stepped into the room, hoping that he wasn't making a dreadful mistake.   
  
"Tabitha?" Sam called softly, moving toward the shape. The bundle of skinny arms and legs made a small sound, and seemed to pull tighter together. "Are you...do you want me to leave?" Sam didn't know what else to say.   
  
The huddled girl shook her head no, but refused to look at him. Sam slowly knelt down a few feet away from her, looking at her with worried and concerned eyes.   
  
"Tabby? What...what happened?" Sam asked. The second that the words passed his lips, he cursed his tongue. No, no, no, you're going to fast, your going to scare her you fool!   
  
Tabitha didn't respond, just huddled down deeper into her arms, like she was trying to hide from the world..from him. Oh please don't hide from me, Tabitha, Ah want to help you so much...  
  
To Sam's surprise, Tabitha made a soft noise in her throat, something like a sob. Sam looked up at her in surprise, trying to decide if reaching a hand out to her would be a wise idea or not. But his hands seemed to have a mind of their own.   
  
They reached out to her, against the screaming of his mind, to touch her arm softly. Tabitha looked up at him, and jerked back, her eyes wide and terrified. Sam felt like stabbing himself to death.   
  
You IDIOT! You shouldn't have touched her, and now she's gonna be AFRAID of you!   
  
"Tabby, Ah wanna help you..." Sam whispered to her, pulling his hand off her arm. Tabitha shook her head, shaking violently.   
  
"You'll hurt me..." She breathed, tears streaming down her face like a waterfall.   
  
"No sweetie, Ah would never ever hurt you." Sam stressed, his eyes dark and pained. He cursed himself to a million hells for dredging up all this fear in her.   
  
Tabitha shook her head, not looking at him. "You're lying. You always say that, always. And then you hurt me, and hurt me, and hurt me…"   
  
The girl trailed off into hysterically sobbing, pulling herself into a tight ball and rocking back and forth. Sam stared at her, at a loss at what to say or do. He was afraid to touch her, afraid that he might scare her even more then she already was.   
  
"Ah would never hurt you, honey. Never, never, never." Sam swallowed hard, not knowing what else to say to convince her of this.   
  
"Everybody hurts me. Hits me, hurts me, pushes me down…" Tabitha was babbling from fright, the words coming out in a rush, falling all over each other.   
  
"No, Ah'll never let anyone hurt you ever again." Sam told her, struggling against his own tears. God, if Ah had only been able to keep a handle on mah temper…   
  
The girl went on like she hadn't even heard him. "Always, always, always. Hurt me, hit me, beat me, and rape me…"   
  
The last words pushed Sam over the edge. He leaned his head against his knees and began to cry with her, his tears hot on his cheeks.   
  
"Ah'm so sorry, Tabby, Ah'm so sorry." He wept over and over again. Sam's body shook with sobs as he cried for the pain that he had accidentally caused the girl he loved. "Ah love you so much, Ah'm so, so sorry..."   
  
He continued to cry, the tears hot against his skin. Suddenly, a feather light touch made him look up. Tabitha was kneeling in her corner now, not huddled up. It had been her fingertips that had brushed his arm.   
  
"Ta-Tabitha?" He whispered softly, so afraid that he was going to hurt or scare her again.   
  
"You love me?" Her words were barely breathed out, but he heard ever word clearly. Sam reached up a hand to brush the tears off his face, and nodded.   
  
"Ah love you. And Ah'm so sorry that Ah scared you like this..." Sam whispered, eyes already tearing up again.   
  
"No one's ever said that they love me." Tabitha's voice was so pitiful that all Sam wanted to do was gather her up in his arms and hold her so close. He stopped himself from doing that, only allowing a soft smile to grace his lips.   
  
"Ah love you so much." Sam whispered to her, reaching out a hand to her again, slowly. Tabitha stared it for a long minute, then touched his finger tips softly with her own.   
  
"You won't hurt me...?" Tabitha asked, her voice so pain-filled that Sam was once more felt tears pricking at his eyes.   
  
"Ah will never hurt you." Sam swore, his eyes glued to her face. Tabitha looked back at him for a long moment, then dropped her eyes to his hand. Slowly, like she was afraid that he would bit her finger off, Tabitha slipped her hand into his, holding it shakily.   
  
Sam stared down at their linked hands, silently thanking God for whatever miracle had give Tabitha the courage to reach out to him. And, God willing, he was going to be the man she needed.   
  



End file.
